Like Salt and Pepper , Peanut Butter and Jelly , Batman and Robin choose your favorite matches but in the last year you can hear the winning driver mentioning them in their victory lane speech.
We all know about Davenport's dominating 2 million dollar dream season last year with the winning combination of Longhorn equipped with that combination. He also is one of the most talented drivers surrounded by a great team. Could he have done it with a different combination? We may never know. I talked with a driver at Gateway Dirt Nationals who made a midseason switch last year to that combination and he instantly made his season better going out and picking up big feature wins. When he was suddenly out of a ride at the end of 2022 and was offered a new ride for the 2023 season he told them he would only accept the opportunity if it was a Longhorn with Bilstein shocks as the owner had ran a different combination.
I know that it's just the beginning of the race season but the Longhorn Chassis with Bilstein Shocks have dominated victory lanes at Vado and Volusia Speedway. 8 nights of racing and all 8 races won by that combination with Davenport,Marlar,Pierce then the hot start by Devin Moran with his new team Double Down Motorsports. Most of them nights they would sweep the top 3 spots on the leaderboard.
We all know that racers and teams go with what's hot at the moment. It's been that way since the 80's with Chassis builders like Rayburn , Bullitt , Mastersbilt ,etc. Drivers would jump brands if they were getting beat by the same chassis as the old saying goes "if you can't beat 'em then join 'em." The. new age of dirt racing isn't all about the talent holding the steering wheel they need to have the right combination of chassis , shock , body ,and engine combination. Remember a few years ago Davenport was always used to a Chevy motor and the team had Ford power they swapped to Chevy power to suit his feel for the car.
Do you have to have this combination to win big races or be a series champion? Dennis Erb Jr. the reigning World of Outlaw champion runs a Rocket Chassis. Chris Madden who was as hot as a driver as JD was last year pilots a Rocket as well. Last year's Dirt Track World Championship was won by Garrett Smith in a Rocket.
Time will tell how long this winning combination lasts. I'm sure all the Chassis builders and the other shock companies Penske , Integra , Fox , etc are far from giving up and making ground on the happy couple. There's another old saying that goes "All good things come to an end." Just like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie or Tom Brady and Bill Belichick , perfect pairings doesn't last forever but until then all parties involved, along with their fans,will enjoy the ride.
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